The Lebanese military announced today that it had fired on Syrian aircraft violating Beirut’s airspace, a move that analysts speculated was designed in part as a public response to efforts – driven by both sides of the almost three-year Syrian conflict – to expand that war into Lebanese territory:

The move suggests Beirut is trying to enforce greater respect for its borders in the hopes of slowing the expansion of the conflict into Lebanon, where it has exacerbated sectarian tensions and prompted shadowy groups to conduct attacks that have killed dozens this year.

Syrian aircraft have frequently conducted strikes near the frontier, sometimes hitting Lebanese territory. Beirut has protested but not responded with force.

Local officials from areas targeted by Syria pointedly told Lebanese media that they hoped the anti-aircraft fire ‘would pave the way for the army to act as the sole defender of Lebanese land and sovereignty against any assaults.’ Damascus has on more than one occasion launched attacks against targets inside Lebanon’s borders allegedly linked to rebels fighting inside Syria to overthrow the Bashar al-Assad regime.

For their part opposition elements inside Syria, reacting to the critical role that Hezbollah has played in enabling the Assad regime to claw its way back to controlling as much as 80% of Syria, have sought to retaliate against the Iran-backed terror group’s Lebanese strongholds.

Internationally, clashes between Lebanese and Syrian forces have the potential to open another front in the increasingly open proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran: Lebanon’s President Michel Suleiman revealed this weekend that the Saudis have pledged $3 billion in military assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces:

The grant, which was announced Sunday night by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, could provide a significant boost to the cash-strapped and poorly equipped Lebanese army at a time of mounting security threats across the country. The 2013 budget for the Lebanese army was $1.2 billion, according to the Britain-based Jane’s Information Group.

Domestically, the dynamic has the potential to further corrode Hezbollah’s position in the country. The organization had claimed for decades that it was a Lebanese organization fighting for Lebanese sovereignty, rather than – as critics charged – an Iranian proxy promoting Iranian interests, if necessary at Lebanon’s expense. Hezbollah had already seen that brand shattered as its participation in the Syrian conflict, widely understood to be done at Tehran’s behest, generated blow-back and violence inside Lebanon. Sustained clashes between the LAF and Syrian forces would position Hezbollah on the side of a nation actively in conflict with Lebanese state and military institutions.

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